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/ 15 October 2004
The best Currie Cup competition of the new millennium has reached the semifinal stage. It’s worth stressing the quality of the rugby, since next year SA Rugby has committed to return to a 14-team structure from the current eight. That will mean many more one-sided contests than has been the case this year, but probably little change in the make-up of the semifinalists.
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/ 15 October 2004
Part of the strategy of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), when it proclaimed that while there was a prima facie case of corruption against Deputy President Jacob Zuma it would not charge him, was that he would be tried in the court of public opinion. But why is it that ‘vrot’ politicians always get off in the court of public opinion?
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/ 15 October 2004
Minni Minawi does not look like a warlord. The former primary school teacher is a softly spoken Sudanese, in a grey pinstripe suit. Yet 34-year-old Minawi is the military leader of the Sudan Liberation Army, one of two rebel factions locked in battle with the Sudanese government in Darfur. ”This [Darfur] is worse than Rwanda. This is not only killing, but starving, displacing, disease and poverty.”
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/ 15 October 2004
In 1994 the World Bank concluded that South Africa’s industrial development had historically been capital-intensive because of cheap finance. The bank argued that raising interest rates above the rate of inflation and reducing government intervention would prompt firms to use more labour relative to capital, creating employment while fighting inflation. And it appears that SA’s industrial policy is still mired in the past.
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/ 15 October 2004
Discussions about improving the level of education in Kenya often focus on the challenge of achieving universal primary education — or ensuring that girls are not discriminated against when it comes to schooling. But, as crucial as the focus on children’s education is, it appears to be marginalising another group of people that is also in urgent need of educational assistance: Kenya’s illiterate adults.
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/ 15 October 2004
The Didier Drogba legend grows. Born in a war zone, emigrated aged five, started life as a full-back, gave up football aged 15, turned out for teams you can’t even find on a map, struggled to score for them. Now, barely two years later, he’s Chelsea’s record-breaking £24-million striker, loved in London, coveted in Côte d’Ivoire.
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/ 15 October 2004
United States President George W Bush has long been lampooned by opponents as a puppet for the real brains in the White House. After his first presidential debate with John Kerry, internet bulletin boards have been hosting a growing clamour of rumours that they finally have the proof. A photograph, taken of the president from behind, appears to show a small bulge under his jacket, suggesting a hidden wire.
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/ 15 October 2004
In a dusty house in Ogoniland, a picture of executed activist Ken Saro-Wiwa hangs on the wall. Nearly a decade after his controversial death, the Ogoni people are embroiled in a new struggle. Local people accuse Casella, a company contracted by oil giant Shell to clean up a spill, of giving funds to Chief Fabian Gberesan of the Ogoni town of KDere, who pays gangs to attack his opponents.
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/ 15 October 2004
The Coca-Cola Cup is expected to provide soccer lovers with scintillating football for the next few weeks. At stake for the 16 premier league clubs participating in the tournament is the R2-million cheque on offer for the winners and a chance to take part in one of the continental cup competitions.
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/ 15 October 2004
The big question this week, away from the hurly-burly of the World Cup qualifiers, is: who is Christian Damiano? That’s what Southampton fans are wondering as their topsy-turvy season gets more confusing. Neal Collins also takes a look at the weekend’s soccer action.